1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to lasers and more particularly to a phased laser array for generating a powerful laser beam.
2. State of Technology
European Patent No. 0571126 published Nov. 24, 1993 for an apparatus and method for optical energy amplification using two-beam coupling provides the following state of technology information: “a diffraction limited working beam at a given frequency is amplified without degrading its diffraction limited quality by diverting a minor portion of the beam as a probe beam, and amplifying the remaining portion of the working beam with a high power pump beam at a different wavelength.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,228 for a coherent beam combiner for a high power laser to C. Brent Dane and Lloyd A. Hackel issued May 7, 2002 provides the following state of technology information: “A phase conjugate laser mirror employing Brillouin-enhanced four wave mixing allows multiple independent laser apertures to be phase locked producing an array of diffraction-limited beams with no piston phase errors. The beam combiner has application in laser and optical systems requiring high average power, high pulse energy, and low beam divergence.”